Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Anatomy of a poison

There is a substantial amount of science devoted to characterizing the gliadin protein in wheat. There are thousands of versions of this molecule, varying in amino acid sequence. But there are sequences shared by most forms of gliadin proteins. (These sequences can also be found in the gluten and glutenin proteins of wheat, as well.) Gliadin has been the recipient of many of the changes in modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat.

What is fascinating is that many of the adverse effects of gliadin consumption in humans have been drilled down to their structural basis: